This morning the Pioneer Press

This morning the Pioneer Press has run a slightly revised and updated version of our column “It’s time for a regime change in Minneapolis.” Contrary to my assurances to Rocket Man that the Pioneer Press would give the column a less antagonistic headline, this is the first time in ten years that either the Star Tribune or the Pioneer Press has used the title we gave one of our pieces as its headline. (On the other hand, Rocket Man and I deliberated over whether we should retain the word “sicced” in reference to the now-deceased pit bull; that word the Pioneer Press did change, to “let loose.”)
As if to put an exclamation point on our notion that the cast of characters running Minneapolis urgently needs to be replaced, last Friday the city adopted an ordinance requiring city contractors to provide “domestic partner” benefits: “Minneapolis requires contractors to provide partner benefits.” A few years back the city adopted a measure providing “domestic partner” benefits to its own employees, a measure that was ultimately struck down by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. It seems to me that we should not simply have concluded our column by contrasting Mayor Rybak with Rudy Giuliani; we should also have compared him with Nero, the guy who fiddled while Rome burned.